La Casa del Libro origins

The LCDL museum dates back to 1955. Following the "Manos a la Obra" plan, Teodoro Moscoso, then president of the Industrial Development Company (Fomento), and his group sought to produce local finely printed and bounded books to meet Puerto Rico’s needs. 

Fomento invited Elmer Adler, a recognized bibliophile, founder of The Pynson Printers, Colophon: A Book Collector’s Quarterly, and the New Colophon, to manage the project. Adler also co-founded Random House and established a graphic arts department at Princeton University.

Adler proposed an institution devoted to encouraging and developing the arts of the book and exhibiting collections of the best books in production and design over the centuries. The people on the island could now learn firsthand the beauty of the book.

“The book is Art,” declared Adler, responsible for securing donations and a considerable number of incunabula in the project’s first year. In 1956, following New York City Library’s model, the entity was registered as a non-profit organization.

Genaro Cautiño Bruno, a Puerto Rican bibliophile, was appointed as president of the Board, then called Friends of Cristo Street 255 (name inspired by the building bought by Fomento for LCDL). Adler served as its founder and first director.

Architect Frederick C. Gjessing and Adler transformed 255 Cristo St. in Old San Juan from a multi-family Spanish colonial house to a small museum, becoming the first restored house on the islet. In 1958, LCDL opened its doors in this location.